HCM CITY (VNS) — Gardeners in southern provinces and HCM City's suburban districts of 12, Thu Duc and Go Vap are hoping that their hard work will pay off for the coming Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

"This year, I expect to sell 400 ochna blossom trees and several hundred flowers and plants of different kinds, like traditional Vietnamese flowers such as daisies, carnations and roses," said Pham Tan Loi, owner of a 1,200sq.m-farm in District 12 of HCM City.

"Traditional flowers seem to be increasingly favoured over more foreign hybrids. I hope to sell a pot for VND25,000 (US$1.2) to VND40,000, about 15 per cent higher than last year's price," he said.

For Tet, Loi and his colleagues have invested several million dong in new seeds and other items.

Florist Hoang Van Thang of Thu Duc District said:" My farm offers 1,500 ochna blossom trees at prices raging from VND2 million (nearly $100) to VND5 million per tree. Some old bonsai trees sell for VND300 million and are sold to customers from Ha Noi."

"Because of good weather, the ochna tree flowers will open in time for Tet. I hope God will bless our farmers," he said.

Last season, Thang lost several hundred trees caused by floods and broken dykes.

Ochna growers in Thu Duc and Hoc Mon said ochna flower prices will increase by about 10 per cent compared to last year.

Farmers in provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre provinces have shown greater interest in growing foreign hybrids such as tulips and lilies.

Tam Hung, who owns a farm in Tien Giang's Cho Gao District, said he has cultivated more than 1,000 pots of different foreign hybrids and expects to sell them at about VND30,000 ($1.4)-50,000 per pot.

"We hope to attract people in HCM City who prefer quality and exotic flowers, even if they are expensive," he said.

In Ben Tre Province, farmers will offer hundreds of thousands of traditional daisies and sunflowers, and quat (kumquat) trees.

"I plan to sell 400 kumquat trees at VND1 million for a quality tree and 300 daisy pots at VND20,000 per pot. I will not be sure about my profit until the last day," said Nguyen Minh Luan , a farmer in Ben Tre's Cho Lach District, who often delivers his flowers on a boat in the city's Ben Binh Dong in District 8.

More than 120 flower fairs around HCM City are expected to attract hundreds of local and provincial florists and hundreds of thousands of residents.

The city has worked to design Ham Nghi Street in District 1 as the "Flower Street", where millions of flowers from all over the country will be assembled to depict an overall theme chosen every year. — VNS